


Galaxy Short Stories

by Powers637



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hutts (Star Wars), One Shot Collection, Tatooine (Star Wars), Vignette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25188037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Powers637/pseuds/Powers637
Summary: A collection of stories from the Star Wars universe, focused on people who otherwise wouldn't be talked about. Each chapter will be about a different character and a short story involving their life, with little hints connecting them to the larger universe.





	Galaxy Short Stories

Edos Intan was not a prideful man--he didn’t have much to be proud of anyway. Guard duty for Motto the Hutt certainly wasn’t glamorous, and neither was the small apartment he had rented for himself in Motto’s workers’ quarters. Life here at Motto’s palace was not great. Not that he wanted to leave--absent killing Tuskans around Mos Polda, this was the only job willing to have him within three hundred klicks. Employee references weren’t something Motto gave out often either. 

No, guarding the slaves at Motto’s palace was the best job he could hope to have in a long time, but things may actually be looking up for him. In another year of this work, he would have proven his ability to sit and stare at a wall for eight consecutive hours, and would be given the glorious opportunity to stare at a different wall for an extra credit per hour. This one might even have a holo projector nearby to entertain him. Not that credits were especially valuable on Tatooine, but it was nice to have them. Motto made sure to accept them at his vendors, and whenever a republic ship came by they would always trade in them. Maybe after his shift he could grab a snack from one of them, try one of the dishes from the chef’s specialty menu. He considered going into town to buy something, maybe a new Sabacc deck, but decided against it. There wasn’t anyone here who knew how to play, and he didn’t have the patience to teach someone. 

In an effort to relieve his boredom, he moved to the desk with the monitors and pulled up a game of Holonet Pazaak. Technically, this was someone else’s work station, but Slosk hadn’t shown up for work today, and Edos suspected he had tried to make a name for himself somewhere in Mos Polda. 

“One day, I’ll be the greatest pilot in the galaxy, Edos!” Slosk would say, leaning back in his chair. “You’ll see me on the top of the Swoop leaderboards, in front of Greela Taldark, Keeto Urbeen, and even Davik Gradnar!”

Edos would snort. “You’ll never beat Davik, Slosk. You’d never get anywhere close, not with that hunk of junk still attached to you.” Edos would always remind Slosk that his arm prosthesis prevented him from holding the steering wheel for very long before the arm began to malfunction, jittering and waving in every direction. It was a wonder that he still had his job handling the security station, but Edos wasn’t going to bring that up to the boss. Don’t rock the ship if you don’t have to. 

At that point, Ba’for would chime in, scolding him for being rude. “Oh come on Edos, give Slosk a break.” She always had that sly grin on her face, somehow able to keep a smile in the face of everything that went on at Motto’s. 

“Yeah Edos,” Slosk would say, “I’ve been working on this baby, messing with the circuitry. I think I’ve managed to fix the spasms that come every so often.” 

They would all laugh, and Edos suspected it was for different reasons. Slosk, because he thought he had finally shown Edos up. Edos, because he knew the arm would break before the end of the shift, again.

And then his day dream was interrupted by the wailing of the slaves. 

Edos held his finger over the buttons linked to their collars. If he wanted, he could apply a “motivating” shock to all the slaves, make them shut up, but he usually didn’t. While he couldn’t do anything about all the slaves being held at Motto’s palace, he could at least make their lives a little bit better by ensuring that someone more cruel didn’t take the job. Give them a break every once in a while. 

Ba’for would nag him if he did anyway. No reason to make a sweet old woman like that mad at him. She had such a heart for the slaves, it was a wonder she still had this job. You’d think by now she would have left. 

Edos didn’t realize that she was supposed to be here until his stomach grumbled. Maybe she  _ had _ quit? Usually, she would bring them lunch, and then stick around to take her lunch break with him and Slosk. The palace was pretty lonely at times, and it was always nice to talk to someone who would actually respond. The bounty hunters weren’t exactly sociable, and the Gamorreans never had anything to say, if they spoke at all. 

Alternatively, she could go eat in Motto’s torture chambers, with the “slave encouragers.” They were  _ quite _ talkative. Very interested in their “craft,” as they called it. 

Yeah, that wasn’t a real option. Especially not for her. 

The next thing he realized was that he hadn’t seen another worker since Slosk had left last night. Edos was supposed to be relieved soon once Slosk had come back from his nap, and they would share lunch before Edos went off to take his own break. Alone, each of these missing people could be chalked up to bad luck, but all together?

Edos dragged his eyes away from the third straight lost Pazaak game and opened the program to view the security monitors. Everything seemed fine. No hubbub, no panic, just a few empty hallways, an unpopulated cafeteria... 

Wait, that wasn’t right. It was the middle of the lunch hour, the thing should be full of workers. Edos began flipping through cameras rapidly, trying to find a single other person in the entire palace. With every feed he pulled up, the pit in his stomach began to sink deeper and deeper. 

He couldn’t even find Motto. Every room he saw was empty, even the  _ throne room _ . 

There was only one place he hadn’t been able to check--Motto’s private quarters. 

Edos turned around and looked down the hallway at the slave cages. He considered, for a moment, immediately leaving the palace and never looking back. Something was very, very wrong here, and running away may be the best way to keep himself alive. But he also wouldn’t put it past Motto to have this all be part of some messed up test to see if he was truly loyal. 

He sighed. 

Picking up a blaster, he peeked outside the room into the hallway. Completely empty, like no one had ever been there. 

He took another step through the compound, towards Motto’s private quarters. 

The silence was palpable. The buzzing and whirring of saws, the roar of workers in the cafeteria, the music from Motto’s personal band, all gone. Absolute quiet. 

It concerned Edos that he was less used to this silence than the screams from the torture room. 

He took a step into the throne room to gain access to Motto’s private quarters. What was most strange was not that everyone had left, but that everything here had been cleaned up. What was normally a constant party had been left deserted and pristine, the food and drink that was normally thrown on the floor gone. The Kowakian monkey lizard that served as Motto’s court jester was not in its usual spot. The bounty hunters that kept half their armory in a cove in the wall were gone, and their weapons with them. 

Nothing.

Edos inched close to the passage to Motto’s quarters. This was usually guarded by three separate bounty hunters, but they had all abandoned their position for some reason. The giant vault door that kept intruders out was wide open, inviting Edos inside. The most puzzling thing about it was that it didn’t look like it was forced open. No grenade marks, no blaster shots, nothing. 

He peered in, looking around for something--maybe another entity, a dead body, anything to let him know what had happened. While it was certainly a wild guess, he almost suspected that everyone in the palace had moved into Motto’s quarters for a wild game of Hide and Seek. Maybe he was the seeker, and they simply forgot to tell him. 

Ridiculous, of course. This whole thing was driving him crazy. 

Edos paused for a moment. Motto the Hutt had told his employees that entering his private quarters for any reason at all, no exceptions, would result in immediate execution. To be frank, even getting this far into the vault might be enough to get him seriously tortured to sate Motto’s desire for privacy. 

He pondered that.

Enter the quarters, probably get tortured and killed.

Stay in the slave quarters, and be able to use the excuse that you were just following orders. 

Yeah, he was gonna follow orders. 

Edos immediately turned around and walked back to the slave quarters. No way was he getting killed just to satisfy a bit of curiosity. He was going to finish his shift, pack his bags, and then leave. This whole thing was probably one of Motto’s tests anyway, designed specifically to screw with him. Maybe tomorrow it would all be back to normal, and he could go back to his normal job. Whatever messed up game of Hide and Seek they were playing, he didn’t want any part in it. Instead, he wanted to finally get some rest after a long shift, maybe play a couple games of Pazaak before getting a drink somewhere in Mos Polda. 

This bit of wishful thinking was interrupted as Edos got closer to the slave quarters. He heard shouting, like every slave was…

He started running. 

Edos dashed into the quarters, blaster in hand, ready to hit the buttons to stop whatever was happening. A controlled shock would make them stop, or if need be, a couple explosions would do. He didn’t want to kill anyone if he didn’t have to, but the physical torture that would happen if he let one escape would be much worse than the emotional pain involved in putting one of the sorry slaves down. 

When he turned around the corner into the hallway of cages, he was shocked to see a figure standing at one of the doors, opening it for the slaves and freeing them. The figure was hooded, covered entirely by a brown robe, waving their hand back and forth in an effort to do...something? Edos couldn’t tell. But then, all at once, the slave collars around each of the slaves’ necks burst open, dropping to the floor. 

“Stop! You need to--” all of a sudden, Edos’ voice caught in his throat. He could breathe fine, but whenever he tried to vocalize his protests or yell for help or say  _ something _ , nothing came out. The figure turned to him, and then brought a finger to their mouth. 

_ Shh. _

Frozen in place, all he could do was watch as the robed figure went to each door and released every slave. Tens of slaves stampeded past Edos, running out into the palace, cheering, smiling. Edos watched in horror as his bounty contract was signed in front of him. 

Eventually, every slave left the quarters, and Edos was left alone with the robed figure. He felt his vocal chords release, freeing him to speak. 

“Wha--who are you?”

The figure strided towards him, face hidden under their hood. It spoke:

“I apologize that I had to surprise you like this. I would have told you, but I needed to keep it secret until I had convinced everyone else to leave and given the slaves a free path to escape.”

“What? What do you mean, what are you talking about?

“Some things are bigger than you, friend,” the figure said as they waved their hand. “You will leave this place. Pack your things, you are no longer needed here.” The figure headed towards the doorway, and looked backwards. The light hit their face just in the right way to let Edos see them flash a knowing smile. “I’ve heard there’s a new swoop racer looking for a bodyguard. Perhaps you should go get a new job?” 

And so he did. 


End file.
